Greater Fort Lauderdale will play host to the first-ever Pride of the Americas Festival, scheduled to take place in 2020. The festival was recently announced at the International Gay & Lesbian Travel (IGLTA) annual conference in Toronto, will be hosted by Pride of Fort Lauderdale and will be presented by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The 10-day festival, which will focus on LGBT+ issues, will include social events throughout Greater Fort Lauderdale, an art festival, a beach party, parade and more. The festival will also include a human rights conference centered around LGBT+ rights which aims to draw attention to the issues and inequalities LGBT+ individuals face in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as improving education and understanding of the LGBT+ community on a global scale.
“We worked extremely close with Pride Fort Lauderdale to develop the concept of this important and transformational event,” said Richard Gray, vice president, LGBT+ Marketing with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Greater Fort Lauderdale has been at the forefront of LGBT+ sensitivity and issues for decades and we look forward to continuing to lead the way by bringing together experts for this important and thought-provoking event. The Pride of Americas Festival joins the Southern Comfort conference as two of the most important LGBT+ events to take place in our destination.”
The festival is expected to draw more than 35,000 attendees to Greater Fort Lauderdale, a destination already well-suited to welcome the conference. Greater Fort Lauderdale is home to the nation’s highest concentration of same-sex couple households, hundreds of gay-owned and operated businesses and the highest one of the country’s largest Pride Centers, the world’s first AIDS museum and the global headquarters of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, which has welcomed LGBT+ travelers since 1996 (when it became the first CVB with a dedicated LGBT+ marketing department), acts as a pioneer in the hospitality industry to ensure that the destination is inclusive and welcoming with a diverse, safe and open community for all travelers.
“We are thrilled with the move to Fort Lauderdale beach. Attendance numbers have skyrocketed and the entire festival experience has been elevated,” said Miik Martorell, President, Pride Fort Lauderdale. “In 2019, our theme is ‘Carnaval’, and we will be presenting our first pride parade and the very first parade along Fort Lauderdale Beach. Pride 2019 is going to be an amazing weekend for all.
